HOUSEHOLDS are being targeted with fake TV License emails that can subtly pinch your personal information and even your bank details.
Fortunately, TV licensing officials have urged that there’s a two word red flag that gives a scam email away.
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Flintshire Trading Standards Service confirmed to LeaderLive that it is aware of “a number of email scams relating to TV licensing” that are currently doing the rounds.
But each email begins with two words that TV Licencing says it never uses.
Scam emails will often tell you that you need to make an urgent payment – genuine emails will not do this.
Flintshire Trading Standards Service spokesperson
Those two words are “dear customer.”
Emails from TV licensing will always include your name.
A spokesperson for the watchdog explained: “The main points to look out for if you receive an email relating to your tv licence are genuine emails will only come from [email protected].
“Genuine emails from tv licensing will include your name and /or part of your post code.
“Scam emails usually start with Dear Customer,.”
These types of emails may be intended to lure personal information out of people, which can then be used to defraud the victim.
Alternatively, these dodgy emails may include links to malicious websites.
The Trading Standards spokesperson continued: “Scam emails will often tell you that you need to make an urgent payment – genuine emails will not do this.
“[And] scam emails may also offer you a refund or say that you are owed a refund.
“Again, genuine emails will not do this unless they are replying to an email query from you about such issues.”
TV Licensing officials have laid out exactly what their emails include on their website:
- We include the name and/or part of your postcode in our emails. Many scams simply use your email address or say ‘Dear Customer’.
- We send our emails from [email protected] (or [email protected]).
- If you are a TV Licensing payment card customer and you make mobile payments via the TVL Pay app, you may receive emails from [email protected]. The sender’s name will show as ‘TVL Pay’.
- Check the email address. Scammers often hide the true email address they’re using. On your device, select the sender’s name (or email address) to show the actual email address.
Watch out for ’email spoofing’
‘Email spoofing’ is where scammers are able to make an email look like it comes from a different address to appear more legitimate.
Scammers are able to ‘spoof’ the genuine TV Licensing email address such as [email protected].
It can be used in all kinds of scams, where cyber crooks pretend to be representatives of any company, like Amazon, Sky, Meta or Google.
To avoid falling for this trick, click or tap the email address shown in Gmail or Outlook to reveal if a different email address is being used.
PROTECT YOURSELF – AND OTHERS
Households are encouraged to report any scam or suspicious emails to [email protected] for the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) to investigate.
This way, if the email is connected to a scam website it will be blocked or taken down.
Read more on the Scottish Sun
If you have already entered your personal details on a suspicious site, you must report it to Action Fraud, or call them on 0300 123 2040.
If this included card or bank account details, talk to your bank immediately.